Winter Keystonian

PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT OF KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL

WINTER KEYSTONIAN

AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT OF KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL

A

huge

thank

you

Pennsylvania Communication Executive Governors

Board, for

to

the

District Committee,

and

Lieutenant

helping

make

this

publication!

PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT OF KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.

DISTRICT CONVENTION A. INFORMATION B. AWARDS C. WORKSHOPS

EXECUTIVE BOARD ADDRESSES 3. ORGANIZATIONS 4. CLUB SHOUTOUTS 5. MAJOR EMPHASIS PROJECT WORK

2.

PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT OF KEY CLUB INTERNATIONAL

District Convention (PADCON 2021)

District Convention Info.

Alex Rasmussen | Division 18

Awards Edie Mhyre | Division 9

Workshops Aleena Parenti | Division 4

It’s that time of year again! Pennsylvania Key Clubs District Convention is coming up, and here is everything you need to know about DCON this year.

When: Saturday, March 20-Sunday March 21, 2021 Where: Online via Zoom Who: Presented by the Executive and District Board, for all members or advisors to attend What: Workshops, awards, and other presentations. Workshops include tips on how to hold online meetings, planning service projects, stress management, public speaking, and information about our International Partners!

How: Registration information will be coming out on how to sign up to attend the virtual Convention

Our theme this year is “Nothing’s Sweeter Than Service” and each workshop incorporates this theme. We hope you will join us in Candyland!

Awards will also be presented at DCON, so make sure your club has yours submitted by February 19th! Clubs do not have to be present at DCON in order to receive the award. Nothing your club has done has gone unnoticed and we appreciate your continued service.

This year, House of Delegates will be a separate weekend, Sunday March 14, and voting will occur over Zoom. Clubs will view candidates’ prerecorded speeches through our District website prior to the meeting.

We hope that you and members from your club are able to attend DCON and House of Delegates with the new opportunity an online DCON presents. Thank you all and we hope to see you there (virtually!).

Hello Key Clubbers!

Your Key Club (or members) do not need to attend the annual district convention to apply!

Any Key Club (or member) that is in good standing is encouraged to apply by the designated deadlines located on each contest, award, recognition, or scholarship.

Appropriate certifications (like advisors, Kiwanis Club or Principal signatures) are needed for some awards, recognition, or scholarships.Please make sure that all appropriate documentation and signatures are obtained. Please check with the details on the designated convention website for the awards!

Please note, all awards are due February 19th!

Results will be announced during the free recognition session at Convention.

While this year’s DCON is online, there will still be many workshops for any member to view. From help with stress management to growing your club, these are helpful for both you and your club. Here’s a peek of what workshops you can participate in at this year’s “sweet” District Convention:

“The Rainbow Trail to Speaking” Public speaking can be terrifying, but with practice it becomes second nature. This workshop is to help members develop skills and even practice their public speaking with fun prompts.

"Gumdrop Pass on your Knowledge!"

Every year the Pennsylvania Key Club has a Youth Serving Youth project they focus on, which this year centers around raising money and awareness for the power of service. Key Club International also partners with many charities, all of which you can learn about here!

"Sweeten Up Your Membership" Increasing membership may seem impossible this year, but this workshop offers many tips and tricks on how to grow your Key Club in fun and easy ways.

"Hosting a Sweet Event" Meetings and service projects look much different now than in years past, as everything has shifted online. Although hosting things virtually may seem daunting at first, this workshop offers help on how to hold these new kinds of meetings.

"Calm in the Candy Castle" With school, extracurriculars, and other world events it is perfectly normal to feel stressed. This workshop gives ideas on how to deal with stress in a fun and healthy way.

Executive Board Addresses

Hello Pennsylvania Key Clubbers!

I hope you all had a great New Year. With this being my last Keystonian address as District Governor, I would like to start off by congratulating you all for persevering throughout this hard Key Club year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each and every one of you has shown great strides this year, whether you know it or not.

This year has been extremely hard for everyone, for so many different reasons, and you have almost made it to the end! I hope you all carry the lessons that you have learned during this pandemic and I hope that you will always remember how much you are appreciated.

We are almost to the end, this means DIstrict Convention! This year's District Convention will be online due to COVID-19. This means that the District Convention will be more affordable for Key Clubbers to attend, so this year is your chance to attend!

District Convention, or DCON, is a weekend full of informational workshops, general sessions, awards, and more!

Thank you for everything you have done this year Key Clubbers! Whether it is your first year, or your last, I hope you made the most out of your experience and enjoyed being a part of this incredible club!

Yours in Service (one last time), 2020-21 Pennsylvania District Governor Ashley Wheeland

Hello Key Clubbers!

As the year is coming to an end I would like to thank all of you for pushing through- I am very proud! I have accomplished a lot throughout my term as District Secretary Treasurer and I owe it all to my board. Each one of them inspires me and pushes me to do better (especially Ashley and Preston). I hope you had a cheerleading team as well and got a lot accomplished. However, the year is not over! Keep looking forward and start to put some thought into what you want to do next year. Whether it’s a new service project/position. It can be as little as being more active in your home club or being a member of the Board. If you are thinking about running for a District position please feel free to contact us!

Speaking from experience I can tell you it is worth your time and will truly transform your view of Key Club and change you as a person.

Alexa Karlowicz | District Sec-Treas

I cannot believe the time has come for my final address in the Keystonian as District Editor!

It has been a very challenging year; however, I could not be more proud of this District and its accomplishments. A lot of work is put into holding a position on the District Board but seeing the work clubs do throughout a pandemic is truly inspiring and makes it easier to accomplish all that we do.

I hope many of you will be joining me in attending the 2021 District Convention! While not a typical one, this provides us a chance to meet as a District and hopefully, reconvening as a District next year at a convention! Thank you for all of your endlessly hard work.

Preston Martz 2020-21 District Editor

ORGANIZATIONS IN NEED OF OUR HELP VALERIE NAYLOR | DIVISION 8 LTG

With all the chaos that happened in 2020 and going into 2021, many organizations need serious help. Here are some great organizations you can donate to and do service projects for.

There are many organizations Key Club has partnered with that aren’t talked about as much as others. One of these organizations is Up With People. Their goal is to break down the barriers of culture, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and economic disparity. They do this by using the power of music, education, and service. To help, sponsor a tour stop, or become a host family.

A great organization that you can support virtually is Squads Abroad. You can join one of their four Telesquads.

The four Telesquads are global health, education, stem, and business. Telesquads are online learning programs that focus on different skills to support the development objectives of community partners abroad.

These next organizations are not affiliated with Key Club but can still use your help.

Doctors Without Borders raises

funds, creates awareness, and recruits staff to provide

medical help for anyone whose survival is threatened. This includes violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. To help, you can donate, attend one of their events, and speak up as well as volunteer to help refugees.

To offer hope and help to people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide, the nonprofit organization, To Write Love on Her Arms, invests their time into recovery and treatment. This organization has many opportunities to get involved. You can start an online fundraiser, ask them to speak at an event, Start a UChapter or Between the Bells, participate in a Run For It 5k, and so much more.

These are just a few organizations that are working on amazing things. We hope this article helped you form more ideas for fundraising and service projects! For more information on these organizations and the ways you can help, go to their websites.

Club Highlights

Lucie Song Division 20 LTG

In the unstable, frightening time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Key Clubs across Pennsylvania still have demonstrated extreme resilience and excellence in their service to their homes, schools, and communities. Here are a few highlights from the outstanding work Key Club students have done: The Lewisburg Key Club from Division 8 volunteered at the Mask-A-Rade event in downtown Lewisburg on Halloween to try and get people to not go trick-or-treating and have a safe as well as fun Halloween. There was a huge scavenger hunt, Halloween themed backdrops for pictures, and they handed out candy, slap bracelets, stickers, and Halloween themed masks. Great work Lewisburg!

The Milton/Warrior Run club from Division 8 volunteered at the Central Susquehanna Marine Corps Toys for Tots warehouse on November 15th. This chapter provides toys,

games, books, and stuffed animals to over 4,000 children annually across the 5 countries of Union, Snyder, Northumberland, Montour, and Columbia. Members worked under Covid-19 protocols for 4 hours to guarantee that children in this area will still be able to celebrate Christmas. Incredible service Milton/Warrior Run!

Kudos to the Punxsutawney Area Key Club from Division 5 for their tireless service throughout the pandemic. They volunteered to help the Salvation Army pass out free food in the summer. They helped prepare boxes of food and passed them out. Anyone was welcome to come and several members of this club were involved. They also volunteered again with the Salvation Army with their annual Thanksgiving dinner. Members of this club helped serve food, clean and set up, and assist in any way they could with this dinner. Amazing job Punxsutawney!

Shoutout to the Conestoga Key Club from Division 20 for an amazing job done in the Yellow Tulip Project subcommittee. Although students could not plant a Hope Garden together, they were able to distribute tulip bulbs in the park to individuals and spread hope and happiness.

Strangers also stopped by and learned about their cause supporting mental health. The money earned was then donated to the Yellow Tulip Project nonprofit organization.

Outstanding work Conestoga!

A final thank you to every club in the District for their tireless efforts this year!

Major Emphasis

Romeo Perlstein | Division 19 LTG

PA Key Club Insta & Twitter

@pakeyclub

Convention Website: www.sites.google.come/view/padcon2021

THANK YOU FOR READING! THE WINTER EDITION OF THE KEYSTONIAN

We hope you enjoyed it!